


Drone Redux

by BeachBum3668



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:01:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29193483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeachBum3668/pseuds/BeachBum3668
Summary: How DRONE should have ended...
Relationships: Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	Drone Redux

**Author's Note:**

> These characters belong to ViacomCBS and were brought to life by the incredible talents of Jeri Ryan and Kate Mulgrew. No infringement is intended or profit made from this work. I'm just borrowing them for a bit and I promise to put them back when I'm finished. Whether or not they'll ever be the same again is anybody's guess.
> 
> PG13. If you have a problem with two adult women in a committed, loving relationship then this is where you need to find something else to read.
> 
> Do not archive or repost without author's permission.
> 
> Feedback: As always, constructive criticism and comments are welcome.

Seven of Nine rushed into Sickbay. Her headlong flight from the bridge seemed to take an eternity. The first thing she saw was One stretched out on a biobed with the EMH working frantically on him.

“Damage?” she demanded of the Doctor.

“Several of his implants were fused in the explosion but they’re regenerating. His biological systems are a different story. Severe trauma to the cerebral cortex, internal bleeding. He needs immediate surgery.” The Doctor moved to his instruments, assembling the necessary supplies to save One.

“The Sphere?” One asked weakly.

“Destroyed. You were successful.” She tried to look encouraging, but there was so much blood!

“While I was linked to the Borg I could hear their thoughts; their objectives. They are aware of my existence. They will pursue me,” One continued.

“Irrelevant. They will fail.” She knew in her heart that Voyager could withstand anything the Borg attempted so long as she and One were there to protect the ship.

The EMH brushed past her with his surgical tray. “I need to get started.” 

“No. I should not exist. I was an accident…a random convergence of technologies.” One’s gaze was fixed on Seven of Nine.

“You’re unique,” she told him. She knew he needed encouragement…and she needed him. She needed him to stay with her; to help her keep Voyager safe. And because…he was not irrelevant. He _mattered_ to her in a way she could not explain. He was significant.

“I was never meant to be. As long as I exist, you are in danger. All life on Voyager is in danger…”

“We can talk about this later,” the EMH interjected. He took the prepared hypospray of anesthesia and moved to One. When he reached out to the drone’s neck, his photonic arm was repulsed by the multiphasic force field One quickly erected around himself. The EMH threw a beseeching look at Seven.

“Allow the Doctor to proceed! Lower the force field!” Seven could not understand what One was doing. Why would he resist the procedures that would save his life? Didn’t he know what he meant to Voyager? To _her?_

“His synapses are failing!” the EMH nearly shouted.

“You must comply!” Seven ordered in desperation.

“I will not!”

“You must comply!!....Please…you are hurting me!” she begged. She couldn’t lose him…not now…not when he had achieved so much. Now that he was necessary to the crew…necessary to her!

“You will adapt…”

And then the light faded from his eyes. Forever.

“I’m sorry…” the EMH told her quietly.

Blindly she staggered away from the biobed, leaning on another nearby for support as she tried to comprehend the crushing pain in her chest. It took every ounce of her Borg strength to make the endless trip from Sickbay to Cargo Bay 2. As she entered the vast bay, she moved mechanically to the alcoves on one wall. She gazed at the special alcove she had altered for One. Her human hand trembling, she reached out and deactivated it. Voyager could not afford to waste the energy it required.

She was not aware of moving to her workstation. She could only focus on her reflection in the mirrored surface there. Her face, so familiar, instead of smiling as she had been practicing days before, now etched with pain. As she watched, tears leaked out of her eyes and tracked slowly down her cheeks.

She faintly heard the bay doors open and quiet footsteps behind her. A delicate hand gently grasped her shoulder. The quiet, husky voice she knew so well washed over her. “The Doctor just told me. Seven, I’m so sorry...”

“He said that as long as he existed all life on Voyager was in danger. That I was in danger.”

“Seven, One sacrificed himself to protect us. All of us…all of Voyager’s family. But most especially, _you_.” Captain Kathryn Janeway knew in her heart that the drone had loved Seven as much as she did. She slid her hand down Seven’s arm and took hold of her Borg hand. “Come with me.”

She led the unresisting woman to the alcove dais. Gently, she pulled Seven of Nine down to sit on the deck in front of her and when she had, Janeway moved behind her and sat on the edge of the dais. She pulled Seven’s back against her chest and wrapped her arms around the young woman’s shoulders, cradling her. She was gratified when she felt the normally stiff ex-drone relax against her and rest her head on her shoulder. She leaned forward slightly and rested her cheek against Seven’s temple. Minutes passed and Seven seemed content just to be held while she cried.

“He was correct when he said that he was an accident. That he was never meant to be.”

“No, Seven, that’s not right. One WAS meant to be. He may not have been planned, but he was meant to be a part of Voyager. We all liked him. You gave him so much, Seven.”

“He was a mere drone…an automaton like I was.”

“No, he was always a unique individual. You gave him that. You taught him what it was to be human…to care about others. One was…special.”

“He was Borg. And being Borg destroyed him.”

“No, he was human. Just as you are. You gave him that gift of humanity.”

“How can you be so certain?”

“Because I saw what he did. Seven, there’s a quote I remember from my Ethics class at the Academy. I don’t know where it comes from, but I’ve always remembered it. ‘What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.’ A man named Albert Pike said that. One gave his life for his friends…he was no drone; he was a man. A **good** man. You taught him that.”

“He was a good man?”

“He was a good man. He was a hero. We’re all going to miss him. It just takes some time to get through the pain of losing him.”

“Captain, I am not… there is pain…in my chest and my ocular implant is…malfunctioning…”

“You’re functioning perfectly normally. It’s called grief. It’s what we all feel when we lose someone we love.”

“Someone we love? I loved…One?” That had never occurred to Seven.

“I’m certain you did. You were proud of him, weren’t you? Proud of everything he accomplished… of everything he learned?”

“I loved One…” Seven murmured as the rightness of that thought settled on her.

“Yes, you did.”

They stayed like that for several minutes. Finally, Seven of Nine spoke again, softly.

“I do not want him to be gone. When he was here I felt…not so alone. I do not wish to be…alone…again.”

“You won’t be alone again. I’m here with you. I’ll always be with you.”

“You will stay with me?”

“For as long as you want me to,” was the whispered promise.


End file.
